FLORA OF ICELAND elements: Athyrium distentifolia, Alpine Lady-fern

Athyrium distentifolia; The Alpine Lady-fern is a fern which can be found in mountain regions of the western, northern and eastern coastal regions. The fronds are generally rather light-green.
A characteristic of the indusium, that is the membrane that covers the spore-producing organs on the bottom side of the leaflets (to be more correct: the back side of the leaflets), is that it drops soon so is missing on mature plants. The fronds are usually about 20cm - up to 50 cm. I photographed this plant in the Hornvik region in the west-fjord district and somewhere between Skálavík and Boloungarvík, also in the west-fjord region. The Icelandic name for this species is þúsundblaðarós.